Abstract: The spoilage of raw meat is an ecological phenomenon closely related to many specific microorganisms and is affected by many external environmental factors. Pseudomonas spp. is one of the dominant spoilage microorganisms in raw meat. However, there is still lacking a systematic review on the mechanism of action of Pseudomonas spp. in the spoilage of raw meat. Notably, there is as yet no definite conclusion on the regulation and expression of genes involved in the spoilage of meat. Therefore, this paper summarizes the characteristics, classification and interspecific difference of Pseudomonas spp., and overviews its contamination sources. The mechanism of meat spoilage caused by Pseudomonas spp. is elucidated at the genetic level from the viewpoint of substrate utilization (including carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism and lipid metabolism). Specifically, the difference in the expression of the genes encoding enzymes regulating the Entner-Doudoroff pathway, the AprX gene regulating extracellular protease, the genes encoding ABC transporter, and the lipase encoding gene lipA under different conditions and the inter-species difference in the expression of these genes may be the fundamental cause of the spoilage of Pseudomonas spp. The information gathered here provides a theoretical basis for controlling meat spoilage.

Key words: meat; spoilage; Pseudomonas spp.; mechanism